Tag: onsite

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3 Ways Worksite Care Works

Several states are estimating double-digit percentage hikes for insurance premiums in 2019 under the Affordable Care Act.  America’s saga has included these annual increases along with rising healthcare claims under traditional insurance plans. In response, many employers are innovating change to regain control of healthcare dollars.

School districts, government agencies, sheriff’s offices, corporations, and small businesses alike have reduced costs by transitioning to self-funded health plans and launching worksite care for employees, dependents, and retirees.

For those considering this money-saving switch, here are three ways employers and plan members mutually benefit from health and wellness centers at or near the worksite:

  • Added Convenience: Utilization of onsite and near-site health centers is high because plan members embrace convenient access to an array of medical services. Primary care, first aid, occupational services, pharmacy, disease management, and wellness services are within easy reach through worksite care. Plan members simply visit the health center during a lunch break, as opposed to taking time off to travel across town for check-ups.
  • Increased Productivity: Keeping employees in peak working condition is a benefit to any organization as a whole. Plan members are often incentivized to access free health-risk assessments with lab work for evaluation of cholesterol, blood sugar, liver function, blood pressure, and other bio-metric panels. Screenings and onsite wellness initiatives help catch any health issues early and support efforts for optimal health.
  • Decreased Costs: In addition to providing preventative care to mitigate risks and avoid high-claim costs, onsite health and wellness centers help decrease specialty-care needs and help avoid expensive ER visits. Wholesale costs on generic drugs also reduce pharmacy costs, while providing access to free prescriptions for plan members. Best of all, plan members pay zero deductibles and no copays for worksite care.

“Worksite care provides a win-win situation for employers and plan members,” said Ray Tomlinson, president Crowne Consulting Group, which is engaged in operating over 30 onsite and near-site health centers across Florida. “Services are tailored for each employee population to eliminate unnecessary spending and to optimize benefits for health and productivity.”

Crowne Consulting Group has built a solid reputation in helping employers implement an onsite-healthcare model with customized services for plan members. Healthcare centers, including operations and administration, are costing approximately 30 to 70 percent less than what employers are paying under the fee-for-service model.

Crowne Consulting Group and its affiliates serve school districts, city government, county government, sheriff’s offices, and private organizations.  Call 407.654.5414 for information.

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Employers Turn to More Sophisticated Health Benefits and Wellness Incentives

Crowne Consulting Group Keeps Pace with National Trends Toward Screenings, Health Risk Assessments, and Customized Wellness Programs.

Employee-HealthcareOct. 24, 2017 (Ocoee, Fla.) – As health literacy and risk management become critical components of employer-sponsored health coverage, Crowne Consulting Group meets the demand by launching onsite healthcare with measurable wellness solutions for employees, retirees, and dependents.

Crowne’s benefits planning experts have spent years touting the rewards of preventive medicine through the operation of onsite and near-site health and wellness centers. A growing number of large and small employers agree the onsite-care model uniquely positions them to incentivize plan members to participate in life-saving biometric health screenings, health risk assessments, and reward-based wellness programs including smoking cessation, exercise, nutrition, and disease management.

“Free lab work and primary care coupled with incentives for medical action far surpass the outdated standards of wellness programs triggered by large claims,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group. “Onsite care and proactive programs achieve success by saving employers millions of dollars in medical costs – while also saving countless lives.”

According to a study discussed in the September AEM Journal from the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, patients with limited health literacy were twice as likely to have preventable emergency department visits resulting in a hospital admission. Employers are recognizing costly health-literacy issues and are taking action through wellness initiatives.

The 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey by Kaiser Family Foundation reports 58 percent of small firms and 85 percent of large firms offer at least one key wellness program.  Additionally, 38 percent of small firms and 62 percent of large firms offer workers health risk assessments. Notable incentives for participation include gift cards, merchandise, and financial rewards such as payroll-fee avoidance or lower premiums.

About Crowne Consulting Group:  Crowne Consulting Group, Inc., founded in 1986, provides administrative oversight services for worksite health and wellness centers and is a related company with The Crowne Group, an employee benefits consulting firm specializing in employer solutions and personal lines of insurance.  Crowne serves public sector employers such as school boards, city and county government, sheriff offices, as well as private organizations.  Solutions for consumer-driven plans include health reimbursement arrangements, self-funded plans, onsite health centers, as well as risk management and human resources consulting.

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Media Contact: Ray Tomlinson, President, 321.221.0665, rtomlinson@crowneinc.com

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How Schools are Saving Money and Lives
Preventive Care Simultaneously Helps Patients and Employers

Doctor and Employee, Onsite ClinicToday’s healthcare system provides an array of screenings for detecting everything from cancer to cholesterol issues. Screenings have become an essential component of preventive healthcare. Detecting health issues early can be the key to avoiding costly and complicated illnesses in the future.

In step with the movement towards consumer education, well-informed employer groups and school districts are launching onsite and near-site health and wellness centers to incentivize employees, dependents, and retirees to keep up-to-date on disease management and preventive health screenings.
Employers are discovering these value-added benefits of the onsite and near-site health model:

  • As a first line of defense, the onsite-care model ensures health screenings are free, easy, and conveniently accessible.
  • Unlike outdated wellness programs that are triggered by large claims or passive educational material, the onsite-care model includes an active approach based on extensive lab work and Health Risk Assessments (HRA).
  • The medical team can offer recommendations for when a patient should be tested and can provide customized care to meet each individual’s unique needs.
  • Physicians can proactively bring medical concerns to the attention of patients as well as create a potentially life-saving plan-of-action for patients to avoid future health problems.

A national Health and Productivity Survey from 2015 indicated that HRA and biometric screenings remain popular components of worksite wellness programs, with 57% of 700 surveyed employer organizations offering an HRA. Through easy accessibility, onsite and near-site health centers offer a solution for increasing utilization of HRAs.

Florida-based Crowne Consulting Group and its affiliates are helping dozens of employer organizations to operate onsite healthcare centers, in which high percentages of members utilize HRAs and screening programs, helping clients prevent high-dollar claims for chronic diseases including diabetes and congestive heart failure. Pasco schools’ first-year results included a 34 percent decrease in diabetes claims costs.

Increased screenings, HRAs, and easy access to preventative care are helping employers achieve millions of dollars in financial savings for taxpayers and reallocating those dollars for other school resources. Additionally, by shifting from disease management to disease prevention, health centers are providing a positive impact on members’ health and their wallets.

Contact Crowne Consulting Group for more information about onsite care.

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Quality Makes the Difference:
Accessibility and Service Quality are Keys to Onsite Care

Health cost trends continue to skyrocket at a national rate due to chronic disease.  Failure to conduct health screenings and delaying to seek help for minor health issues can escalate to serious conditions resulting in expensive health claims.  When quality care is easily accessible, however, health costs can rapidly decrease.

Early detection, prompt treatment, and consistent follow-ups are key components of the onsite healthcare model.  By supplying onsite or nearby medical care for employees, employers are mitigating risks and cutting costs, all while increasing employee benefits.  In addition to a healthier bottom line, this translates to improved productivity and fewer sick days with less time away for physician appointments.

The Crowne Consulting Group and its partner, CareHere LLC, have created a cost-saving model for self-funded employers, extending benefits of free office visits, screenings, and increased physician face-time.  When considering onsite care, it’s important to ask the right questions to ensure your operators are able to meet and exceed your needs for lowering health costs while enhancing care.

1)     Will the employees have easy access to the health center?
 In addition to building the center at the worksite or a nearby location, availability is essential.  The CareHere-Crowne model allows employees to simply call a toll-free number or go on-line to schedule an appointment.  Patients are typically in front of a doctor before the end of the workday.

2)     Will the employees be able to fill prescriptions via the health center?
Through CareHere, employers pay wholesale costs for prescription drugs, which have helped employers save millions of dollars.  Importantly, patients appreciate that they can conveniently walk away from the appointment with a free or low-priced prescription in about an hour.

3)     Will the range of services meet the employee’s medical needs?
Without having to leave the worksite, employees may seek treatment for acute conditions such as a cold or infection, in addition to chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes.  The full list of services typically includes primary and family care, occupational services, workers’ compensation matters, x-rays, pharmacy, disease management, and wellness services.

4)     Will there be incentives for employees to utilize the center?
Visits to the health centers are voluntary, but incentives for employees to use them include zero co-pays and no deductibles.  CareHere and Crowne Consulting Group also take a client-centric approach to boost success.  Among the list of perks are a grand opening to announce and promote awareness for the new center, reward-based programs with prizes to increase utilization, and employee incentives tied to wellness programs and health risk assessments for identifying risks early and controlling costs.
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When considering the launch of any healthcare service, experience is most important.  Crowne Consulting Group’s team has expertise in serving public sector employers such as school boards, city and county government, as well as private organizations.  Crowne’s team strategically collaborates with CareHere LLC to help employers hire medical staff and operate health centers.  CareHere operates more than 100 health centers nationwide, specializing in providing onsite healthcare through employers by making healthcare easier, better and more affordable.